Do I have to have Windows installed on my Macbook Pro to play PC video games?

I want to play Skyrim on my MacBook Pro but I would rather not have to pay for a version of Windows on top of that. Can I play a PC game without a version of Windows? If not, why not?

Yes, you do. See:
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

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I have windows 7 on my macbook pro but i want OS X how do I install it?

I have windows 7 on my macbook pro but i want OS X how do I install it?

Reformat disk drive to HFS+
Then use the appropriate DVD to install OS X on your Mac
The reformat will erase everything off of the disk drive so backup first everything that you want to save
Allan

I have windows 8.1 and firefox won't play youtube videos but IE will

I have windows 8.1 and firefox won't play youtube videos but IE will. I have tried reinstalling firefox, flash, java. Resetting firefox don't help, disabled hardware acceleration, protected mode 0 in the mms.cfg file. Nothing will play on youtube in firefox. It says "an error has occured, please try again later". The ads play fine though. Everything plays fine in IE. I have tried different versions of flash also with no luck. I even restored the system to a previous iso image with no luck. Does anyone have a solution?

It maybe because your javascript is disabled .
You can check the javascript.enabled pref on the about:config page.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/about:config
There are also extensions that can block JavaScript or otherwise interfere.
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
Or,
"Clear the Cache":
Firefox > Preferences > Advanced > Network > Cached Web Content: "Clear Now"
"Remove Cookies" from sites causing problems:
Firefox > Preferences > Privacy > Cookies: "Show Cookies"
Start Firefox in [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-using-safe-mode Safe Mode] to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem.
'''''Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window.'''''
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
please report us if any problem.

TS1574 no sound on windows installed on my macbook pro

Installed windows using boot camp on my macbook pro. now whenever I try to play a song, I see a red light from audio port & there is no sound. I can see this device in the list of playback devices. I tried updating the driver, but it says "windows has detected that your driver is upto date"

If you're seeing the red light then it's set to output audio through the optical digital output, also called TosLink. Check the audio settings in Windows. If you have the same problem in OS X then the micro-switch in the socket that switches between analogue audio and optical digital audio is stuck. Try inserting a headphone jack a few times to try and throw the switch.

I have windows installed in my macbook air. how do i get a screen snapshot? please assist.

I have installed windows in my macbook air. need assistance in how to get a screen snapshot. please assist

You can also use Windows Snipping Tool - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/snipping-tool when in Windows.

HT201177 macbook pro cannot play online video,requires adobe flash player but i did install and it won't works

i need help!!!!!!!

There is some movie stuff online that is NOT Flash. One of the most annoying is Windows media.
Microsoft convinced lots of folks to produce their conntent in Windows media. Then they abandoned the Mac verison of the Player.
But they did provide a substitute: Flip4Mac:
Windows Media on a Mac? -- No problem! -- The official Windows media Player on the Mac
(All you need is the free download, despite their attempts to Upsell the for-pay tools.)

I get an error message when trying to install windows 7 on my macbook pro. The message says "windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer. I don't have anything connected to my computer. How do I fix this?

I'm trying to install windows 7 on my macbook pro. I went through the process of bootcamp telling it to install windows 7. Once the windows boot manager started an error message came up. The error message says " windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer. I don't have a usb connected to my computer. I am using windows 7 professional install disc. I can't figure out what i am doing wrong. The same message keeps coming up over and over. Am I doing something wrong or is it something else?

Well, shucks, i just spent almost 30 minutes trying to find your model user guide to explain it better, I guess they never got around to making it.....
I would just borrow another Windows disk and try installing it again and if it does it again then you might take it to an Apple Store and see if one of the "Genius' " can figure it out.
Make sure your internet is enabled and click on your blank desktop and at the top of your screen is a Help menu option, enter PRAM and it should give you a list of things relating to Pram. It may take a few seconds to list anything as it has to connect to Apples severs first. It should list the things you may have to fill back in when your done.
"P-ram" stores some common information that is used in the background, your date, time, startup disk, etc, that you don't have to re-fill when you restart, it's a little different for each computer.

HT3986 I have installed windows 7 into my macbook pro 15 inch with lions. This computer is the current 2.2 GH i7 chip with 500 GB HD. Now, how do I install the drivers. When I started boot camp, the system prompted me to create a CD. What do I do with

I have installed Windows 7 into my Macbook Pro 15 inch with Lions as operating system. (current model with 2.2 GHz i7 processor, 500 GB HD ad 5400 rpm). When I started with boot camp, the system promped me to create a disc, which I presume is for the drivers for windows 7. Now windows is intalled. What do I do with the CD that the system created for me? Also, why does the system automatically start in Win7 instead of Lion. I need to pression the option key to have it start in OS X. I thought it was supposed to be the opposite.

Insert it while you are in Windows, if it does not autostart run setup.exe.
Choose your startup disk using Apple>System Preferences>Startup Disk (in OSX) or Control Panel>Boot Camp>Startup Disk (in Windows)

I have Windows 8.1 installed on my Macbook Pro Retina (Late 2013) and it keeps on crashing with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR BSOD error

I have Windows 8.1 installed on my Macbook Pro Retina (Late 2013) and it keeps on crashing with a WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR BSOD error. Is this an issue with the bootcamp driver not compatible with Windows 8.1? or is there something I can do to fix this.
I also keep getting WHEA-Logger Event-ID 19 warning events in the Windows Event Logs with the following details.
A corrected hardware error has occurred.
Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Corrected Machine Check
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor APIC ID: 3
The details view of this entry contains further information.

likely win8.1 dont have official bootcamp support yet
1/3 of my logins into win8.1 result in a fatal bluescreen
was the same deal when I installed win8 before official support
and when the drivers with official support was released the issue went away

I tried to install windows 7 in my macbook pro late 2011 but i tried to create partions after it installed and it turn to dynamic disks and ican't access mac or win 7 what should I do i cant format it because i dont have a backup

I tried to install windows 7 in my macbook pro late 2011 but i tried to create partions after it installed and it turn to dynamic disks and i can't access mac or win 7 what should I do i cant format it because i dont have a backup

It's not that you can't format it because you have no backup, it's because you'll lose everything when you do. Lesson learned. Always have a backup.

I Installed windows 7 on my macbook pro 13 inch Late 2011 with bootcamp, i have no wireless icon or bootcamp icon, i checked my flash drive and it is blank!! what do i do?

i Installed windows 7 on my macbook pro 13 inch Late 2011 with bootcamp, i have no wireless icon or bootcamp icon, i checked my flash drive and it is blank!! what do i do?

Download and intall the Windows Support software. You can start Bootcamp Assistant again and only select the option to download the support software. Then follow the instructions to save and install the support software.
Or, manually download the support software here http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/downloads/.

I have usb driver in may macbook pro 15 retina. When I installed windows 7 and try to download windows support into a CD, boot camp always said it couldn't find my usb driver.

I have usb driver in may macbook pro 15 retina. When I installed windows 7 and try to download windows support into a CD, boot camp always said it couldn't find my usb driver. My mac version is 10.8.3

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Install the Windows support software from the USB drive. Note that Boot Camp Assistant, in OS X 10.8.3, doesn't support the option to burn the Windows support software into a disc.
Instead, you can try a different thing. Start in Windows and download the Windows support software in it > http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1638 Then, decompress the file and run the Boot Camp drivers installer.
If you can't access to the Internet in Windows, start in OS X and download the Windows support software from the same link. Decompress the file, right-click the folder which will show up after decompressing the file and select "Burn". Finally, start in Windows and install the Boot Camp drivers

Windows 8 won't install on my Macbook Pro, have installed Parallel Desktops 9.

Am trying to download Windows 8 onto my Macbook Pro. I've installed Parallel Desktops 9. The Windows download keeps telling me it can't download because the setup file is not supported by OS X. Parallel Desktops is telling me I can install Windows via a PC, DVD or image file. Does this mean I cannot install Windows by downloading it.

Am trying to download Windows 8 onto my Macbook Pro. I've installed Parallel Desktops 9. The Windows download keeps telling me it can't download because the setup file is not supported by OS X. Parallel Desktops is telling me I can install Windows via a PC, DVD or image file. Does this mean I cannot install Windows by downloading it.

I have just purchased the new macbook pro 15" and see that it comes with 2 discs in the box, one being Mac OS X and the other being Applications Install DVD. Are these pre installed? or do I need to insert the discs and install them?

I have just purchased the new macbook pro 15" and see that it comes with 2 discs in the box, one being Mac OS X and the other being Applications Install DVD. Are these pre installed? or do I need to insert the discs and install them?

All has been installed. Those are there in case you need to do a reinstall. Unlike most Windows based hardware vendors these days. Apple still ships software you might need in case a drive fails. Even in the case of the new MacBook Air, Apple ships the software on a flash drive.

I have Win 7 saved (installation file) in My MacBook Pro Licence version. How can i install it on MacBook Pro. After installation how can i make it to work with Parallel desktop or VMware fusion software.

I have Win 7 saved (installation file) in My MacBook Pro Licence version. How can i install it on MacBook Pro. After installation how can i make it to work with Parallel desktop or VMware fusion software. I can buy these softwares.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/02/02/how-to-install-windows-7-in-os-x-using-para llels-desktop-a-complete-walkthrough/
http://blogs.parallels.com/consumertech/2011/10/24/install-windows-right-from-wi thin-parallels-desktop-7-guest.html

Do I have to have Windows installed on my Macbook Pro to play PC video games?

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